


Bunnies and Blizzards

by dietcokeenthusiast



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Fluff, Humor, Injury, Pre-Relationship, Slow Burn, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-07-11 07:57:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7039615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dietcokeenthusiast/pseuds/dietcokeenthusiast
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pro gamer turned MEKA pilot Hana "D.Va" Song's abilities get her noticed by Overwatch, who manage to borrow her from the Korean army. Her reckless combat style and cocky attitude don't always impress her superiors, but they manage to get her introduced to a new "friend".</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Frosty Introduction

Making the shift over to first-person shooters wasn’t that hard. It required a lot of the same sorts of skills that Starcraft did: quick reflexes, precision, keen knowledge of all of the abilities at your disposal and exactly when to use them, and of course, a willingness to brutally punish your opponents if they slipped up. There weren’t many people there who had the skills to do it professionally, and Hana “D.Va” Song was the best of them.

So it seemed only natural to her that she be that damn good when it came to piloting a MEKA. All it was was just a first-person shooter with more physical training involved. It was useful, though. Like when she was dealing with the last guy who thought it’d be funny to make a “tits or gtfo” joke at one of her con appearances. Or in this case, when she was up against a sniper bearing down on the critical point she needed to defend.

She knew the Widowmaker by reputation alone, and that reputation was enough to make most people deathly afraid. Only the best of the best managed to survive an encounter with her, and even then they rarely escaped unscathed.

It was a good thing that D.Va was the best of the best.

She planted her MEKA right in front of the point, spraying the nearby rooftops with suppressing fire. Even she was impressed at Widowmaker’s ability to dodge. She certainly wasn’t dealing with a scrub.

Widowmaker fired back with aimbot levels of accuracy but D.Va was able to keep her running long enough that her defence matrix could come back online in time to block the latest volley. Her subscribers were totally going to eat this up! The two were locked in a stalemate, it was just a matter of who was going to make a mistake first.

Then, in the split second before D.Va could get her defensive matrix back online, one of Widowmaker’s shots finally hit home, disabling one of the cannons on her MEKA.

“ _Shi bal!_ ” There went her ability to provide suppressing fire. Her matrix went up as more shots came her way, but she had only precious seconds before it was down again, and she wasn’t going to be able to go toe to toe with one of her weapons on permanent cooldown.

“Fall back, D.Va!” A deep voice ordered over her intercom. Though they had only met briefly, she immediately recognized the voice as Winston’s. “We only have to hold out a while longer. We can’t do that if Widowmaker kills you.”

There was probably some wisdom in the old ape’s orders, but D.Va knew damn well how fast a match could turn. Besides, she didn’t play to just slip by. She played to _win_.

“Sorry, DK,” she chirped over the comm. “I’m going for the high score!” Then, with near perfect reflexes, she put Widowmaker in her sights, set the thrusters to maximum, and hit the self-destruct button. She gracefully backflipped as the MEKA ejected her, landing on her feet just in time to see the explosive payload traveling right at Widowmaker. Mere seconds later came a loud explosion, the wind blowing her hair back. Smirking to herself, she popped another piece of bubblegum in her mouth, wishing the rest of the team was there to watch her.

 

Then she heard herself shriek as a sharp pain tore through her right arm. Then came a shot that narrowly missed her head, and she found herself running for cover. Then out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the skull-faced intruder. That had to be the other one she heard so much about – Reaper.

And without her MEKA, she had no way of defending herself against him.

D.Va grit her teeth as she dove behind a pillar, bullets flying where she stood only seconds ago. She popped out to fire a salvo with her pistol, but didn’t even come close to grazing him. She sighed in exasperation. She never was any good at aiming with her left hand.

She heard the sound of Reaper’s shotgun… pistol… thingies? Whatever they were, she heard them being cocked, and prepared herself to move to the next pillar.

Then suddenly came the sound of cracking earth, and a bitterly cold breeze as a massive ice wall materialized between the two of them. Before she could react to the giant block of ice appearing out of nowhere, she cried out in pain as she felt a hand come down on her shoulder.  
  
“Ahh! I’m so sorry! Really, _really_ sorry! I-I just wanted to see if you were okay.”

D.Va grumbled. “You couldn’t just ask or something?” Turning around, she saw a heavy-set woman bundled up tightly in a parka, the slightest hint of frost on the edges of her glasses. While she’d been introduced to the members of Overwatch before her mission, she wasn’t sure whether it was the adrenaline or the blood loss, but she couldn’t quite remember this woman’s name. Madge? Molly?

Whoever she was, she was dragging D.Va back just as the ice started to crack. As soon as Reaper's face was exposed, Mikayla sent a volley of icicles his way. D.Va ducked as the two traded shots, catching a glimpse of Reaper vanishing in a cloud of black smoke once Maura got the upper hand. She saw Marianna breathe a sigh of relief, before turning back to her, a look of concern on her face.

D.Va, not quite sure what else to do in the situation, flashed her the victory sign. “Sick tanking!”

Mary Lou’s expression turned into one of confusion. “Um… thanks?”

“You’re welcome! Oh, and uh… sorry for snapping at you. Especially since you saved my life and everything.”

“Oh! Well, that just seemed like the _cool_ thing to do,” she chuckled. D.Va instinctively scrunched up her face at the awful pun. “So, I think that takes caAHHHH!”

D.Va’s eyes went wide with horror as a bullet struck her in the knee, and she fell down to the ground. Turning to her right, she saw Widowmaker in the entranceway to the building, aiming her next shot. D.Va wasn’t stupid enough to think that she had killed her, but she thought at the very least she had driven her off.

Regardless, she wasn’t about to let a teammate who just saved her from game over go down like that. Forcing herself to her feet, she dived in front of Mei-Ling ( _That_ was her name!) and emptied her clip at the sniper. The accuracy of her desperation attack left a lot to be desired, but it managed to drive her back behind the wall.

The delay was all she needed, as the next sound she heard was a giggle, and a British accent declaring that “The Cavalry’s ‘ere!” Hitting the ground harder than she expected, she caught a glimpse of Tracer chasing off Widowmaker.

Grimacing in pain, she rolled over to check on Mei-Ling. The expression on her face was somewhere between pain and awe. Seeing that she was okay enough to be impressed brought a smile to D.Va’s face. “So, what did you think?”

“A-Mei-zing!”

D.Va groaned. Getting shot again sounded merciful compared to hearing another pun.

“AHEM.”

Rolling over again, she saw Winston and Mercy standing over her. Neither of them looked terribly impressed. Forcing a smile, she held up the V once again. “Uh, GG?”

\--

“AHH!” Hana cried out. “How many more pieces do you still have to dig out?”

“Three,” Angela replied tersely in her German accent, dropping another shell fragment in the dish. “You’re lucky that’s _all_ there is.”

Hana scowled. “Hey, I stopped the sniper, didn’t I?”

“You delayed her. And not for a terribly long time, I might add.”

“Still helped,” Hana huffed.

“What _didn’t_ help was the amount of time I had to spend on the comm with the Korean general,” Winston interjected. “You’re still a military asset, and one your government is already taking a big risk loaning to us. If you get hurt or killed, we’re going to have to pay the price for it!”

“OMG, easy, Donkey Kong. I-“

“I thought I asked you _not_ to call me that,” Winston sighed in exasperation. “My point is that both we and your government want you safe.”

“I am!” She insisted.

“Thanks to Mei,” Angela added. “Don’t even get me started on what your carelessness did to her.”

Hana opened her mouth to protest, but nothing came out but a yelp. Partially because she had another shell removed from her shoulder, and partially because she knew Angela was right. Getting greedy and getting your team fragged was a total noob move. “…Sorry.”

“We all know how good you are, Hana. That’s why I approached you in the first place,” Winston explained, pushing his glasses back up his face. “You don’t need to get yourself killed to prove it to us.”

“Precisely,” Angela added. “Your enthusiasm is admirable, but you need to understand there’s a time and place for it.”

“Fine, you – AH! You win.”

“That’s the last one,” Angela smiled softly, and moved to pick up her staff. “Now then, lay still.”

For once today, Hana did as she was told, keeping still as the Caduceus staff shone upon her wounded shoulder. The sensation was somewhat uncomfortable, as though there was something inside her wound crawling and wriggling around. Turning her head to the side to sate her curiosity helped with the feeling though. Not to mention it was utterly fascinating seeing her skin slowly start to knit itself together. Within a few minutes, the wound had completely closed, though the feeling hadn’t completely returned to her arm.

“Wow, that was cool!”

Angela chuckled softly. “I’m glad you think so. Now, I’ll need you to stay here overnight so-“

“LOL! Good one,” Hana chirped as she slipped off the bed. “I’ve got to get working on a highlight package for my channel.”

The smile immediately dropped from Angela’s face. “There is no joke. You will stay here overnight.”

“Didn’t you just rez me, though?”

“Rez? What in god’s name… no. The staff’s nanotechnology lets someone keep fighting if needed, but a full recovery requires additional care, so I want to keep you overnight for observation.”

Hana plopped back down on the examination table dramatically. “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Winston answered for Angela. “I had Lena help me pick out some things you might need overnight. They’re by your bed. You can go back to your quarters tomorrow.”

Hana began to think Cranky Kong would be a more fitting nickname for Winston. “Fine. Just point me where I need to go.”

Winston led her to one of the infirmary rooms. It was fairly modest; a thin curtain separated the two beds, while there was a shared TV and bathroom. On the chair beside her bed were toiletries, a change of clothes, her 3DS, her phone, and much to her chagrin, _not_ her laptop.

“Mercy will be by with dinner later. Other than that, she’ll give you a checkup in the morning, and you should be able to go.”

“Should be?”

Winston sighed. “That’s her call, and even I know better than to argue with her. Can you please just cooperate?”

Hana thought about it for a moment before responding. “Okay. I’m a team player.”

“I hope you mean that,” Winston responded, moving to the door. “I’ll speak with you tomorrow.”

Hana waved with her uninjured arm, and grinned. “Talk to you tomorrow, DK!”

Grumbling, Winston shut the door, leaving Hana to her own devices.

\--

It had been at least two hours since dinner arrived. It wasn’t _bad_ , but there was only so much you could expect from hospital food period, let alone illegal paramilitary hospital food. It’d be so easy to just go out and grab something, but nope, that might make her arm fall right out of her socket.

The worst thing was the boredom, though. Hana had changed into her sleep shorts and tank top, gotten ready for bed, and had spent the past hour or so fishing in Animal Crossing. Seeing as she already completed the museum, it was just a time waster. Then there was the fact that she wasn’t even getting fish that were worth anything. She considered possibly switching to bug hunting, but she didn’t have the patience right now to deal with sneaking up on beetles.

She really wished that she could have just gone back up to grab the laptop.

She looked up as the door opened, and saw Mei-Ling making her way into the room on a set of crutches. She suddenly turned to face Hana. “Oh! Hi, Hana.”

Hana smiled. “Hi, Mei-Ling. You here tonight too?”

“I am. Angela says I’ll need to try and keep off this leg until it heals,” she explained, making her way over to the other bed. “Can… can I move the curtain?””

“Go for it.”

Mei-Ling threw the curtain back, letting the two of them converse more easily. “So… thanks for saving my life back there! I think Widowmaker would have got me if it hadn’t been for you.”

Hana looked up. “I’m the one who almost caused a wipe. I should be thanking you, Mei-Ling!”

“Let’s just say we saved each other. Oh, and just Mei is fine.”

Hana nodded. “Got it.”

Minutes of awkward silence passed as the two women lay on their beds. Hana kept her face buried in her 3DS, but occasionally saw Mei looking over at her. She wasn’t quite sure how she was supposed to start a conversation with the woman she almost got killed, so decided it was best to just ignore it for the time being.

“Hana?”

“Yeah?”

“I-I like your shorts!” Mei blurted out. “Y- I mean they’re cute! With the bunnies on them! The shorts are cute, I mean.”

Hana smiled politely. “Um… thanks?”

“You’re w-welcome!”

Another awkward silence passed between the two women, the only sound coming from Hana’s 3DS.

Mei was the first to try again. “So… w-what are you playing?”

“Animal Crossing,” Hana replied, not looking up from her screen. “It’s not hardcore or anything, but it’s relaxing.”

“Relaxing?”

“Here,” said Hana, sliding off her bed and taking a spot beside Mei on hers. “You fish, decorate your house, and help villagers, and they’re all cute animals. Like Frobert! Oh shit, waddup!” Hana giggled, only to be met by a blank expression from Mei. “You know, like dat boi?” The blank expression continued. “The frog on a unicycle?” Mei blinked, and Hana sighed. “Nevermind.”

“Sorry! I-I’m not really that up to date on what’s supposed to be funny anymore. I missed a few years while I was frozen.”

Hana perked her head up from the game, suddenly feeling pangs of guilt for giving her a hard time. “Oh! I’m sorry…”

She felt Mei’s hand on her shoulder, and to her relief, Mei was smilng. “It’s okay! I don’t mind cold places so much.”

Hana smirked. “Figures. What kind of stuff did you do in those places?”

Suddenly Mei’s face lit up. “Oh, lots of things! There’s a lot of collecting data on weather patterns, like short term changes, probable trends, and temperature shifts. Occasionally I’d also observe animals, and take them home for study. Oh, my favorite though is when I get to try out my climate manipulation devices! They use solar power to start creating localized atmospheric changes in high-risk areas. So in drought-prone regions, it’d help with the formation of clouds far more efficiently than with conventional cloud seeding methods. In some cases, I’ve managed to increase average yearly precipitation by fifteen percent!”

For a moment all Hana could do was stare. When you cut classes to study build orders for the Zerg, it occasionally left you a little bit unprepared to discuss the finer points of climate science.

Mei sighed. “Sorry. I just went off there, huh?”

Hana snapped to attention. “What? No! I was just trying to follow.”

The look of relief on Mei’s face was palpable. “Oh! That’s g-good then! I didn’t want to bore you.”

“Trust me, you start boring me, and I’ll let you know. So you got to change the weather in different places?”

Mei nodded. “Basically. We have to manage all these things if we want to protect the planet. It’s already gone through so much. That’s why I joined Overwatch, because our world is worth fighting for.”

“You wanna save the world, huh?”

“Exactly! I like doing it more through science than through shooting, but I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Hana smiled and nodded. Going out to all sorts of weird and cold places all around the world was about as far from con appearances, staying in fancy hotels, and ruining your opponents as you could get, but it made her happy to see someone else who was as fired up and passionate about something as she was.

Mei’s voice interrupted her thought. “Hana? Are you okay? You’ve been just smiling for a while now.”

“Huh? I was?” Feeling the heat rush to her cheeks, she immediately turned her head. You never let another player see you get flustered. “So, uh, are there any games that you know?”

“I don’t think anything that’d impress you. It’s tough to bring videogames out into the wilderness. Some of my teammates would bring board games to play, though, and that was always fun.”

“Oh, like monopoly or something?”

“Monopoly?” Mei raised an eyebrow. “You’re a championship gamer, and you think of Monopoly?”

“Yeah, I’m the champion of not old person games!” Hana teased.

Mei grinned. “I think you’re just afraid of losing at an ‘old person game’.”

Hana leapt up from the bed. “Oh that is IT. A new challenger appears! 1v1, right now!”

“Not tonight,” Mei shook her head. “All my games are in my room, and Angela wants us to stay overnight.”

“Oh, you aren’t dropping out that easily! Just give me a minute.”

“Wait, Hana, where are you-“

Hana was already out the door into the treatment area before Mei had a chance to say anything more. _No one_ suggests that D.Va is afraid of losing. Taking a moment to scan the room, she quickly checked for any movement before heading over to grab some surgical masks, labcoats, and goggles. She rushed back to the room, and starting tossing them at Mei. “Put these on. This is our disguise.”

Mei looked down at the labcoat. “Hana, have you ever seen Angela when she’s angry? I don’t think we want to do this...”

“Which is why we go fast and don’t get seen. She won’t be mad then.”

“Even then, these disguises don’t make any sense! We’re going to look really suspicious.”

Hana stopped to think for a moment. “You’re right. Give me a second.” With that, she slipped out the door again, and noticed a big box in the corner. _Perfect_. Hauling it back in, she motioned for Mei to put her arm around her shoulder. “There, we can hide in this, and I can help you walk.”

“…Are you being serious?”

Hana just flicked her hair back. “What’s the matter? Afraid of losing at an old person game?”

Sighing, Mei carefully lowered herself from the bed and hopped on her good foot over to Hana, draping a soft arm over her shoulder.

“All right, stealth mission, here we go!”

Getting out of the infirmary was simple enough. It was late enough that Angela had probably gone to bed, and with how organized she was with the layout, it was easy to get by without tripping over anything. Outside of the infirmary, the halls were dimly lit, but no one else seemed to be up and about. For once. Hana was glad to be playing on easy mode.

Everything went smoothly until they were passing the kitchen, when Hana caught a glimpse of the fridge light and a large hand opening the door. “Quick! Duck!”

Going to the ground quickly, and helping ease Mei down so as not to hurt her knee further, she pulled the box over them, peeking outside the hole that was used for a handle. Peeking out the hole, she suppressed a giggle as she caught a glimpse of Winston struggling momentarily with a jar of peanut butter. She was he didn’t notice the box in the hallway, especially with two people hiding underneath it.

Once she was certain the coast was clear, Hana somewhat reluctantly lifted the box off of the two of them, and helped Mei to her feet. Mei looked a bit flushed, but Hana just chalked that up to having to maneuver with a bad knee.

“How’s your knee?”

“…Oh! It’s okay.”

“Good. Now let’s get the board game so I can get to destroying you!”

\--

Mei pushed her glasses up and leaned down to study the board. Hana struggled to maintain eye contact. “So what made you want to do gaming for a living?”

“I’m good at it,” Hana replied, taking a sip of her energy drink. “I wasn’t dumb or anything when it came to school, but I was better at games, so I spent my time on that.”

“But do you like it?”

“Of course! I’m the best there is at it.”

“That’s not the same as liking something, though.” Mei set down five black cards. “I’m building a line from Sault St. Marie to Montreal.”

“Sure it is!” Hana finished off the last of her energy drink, and set it on the side table. “It’s like this. When do you feel really good? When one of your weather thingies works, or when it doesn’t?”

“Well, there’s still a lot you can learn from when it doesn’t work too. Just becau-“

“Yeah yeah, I get that, but what makes you feel better?”

Mei paused for a moment. “When it works.”

“Of course it does! That’s what I mean. No one actually _likes_ losing.” Hana threw down two cards, and set her red train cars down on the board, smiling smugly. “’El Paso to New Orleans!”

Mei blinked her eyes, evidently trying to keep them open. “But aren’t they just games?”

Hana rolled her eyes. “Pffft. You have to try to be the best at everything you do, even if it’s ‘just a game’! That way, you get to be the best when you’re defending your country! Or saving the planet!”

Mei giggled. “That’s a neat way of looking at it! Maybe I should make a trophy for helping the environment.”

“Do it! I bet you’ll be even more excited about it. Besides,” Hana grinned, “you’ll need to have at least one victory under your belt.”

“Oh, I think I can manage that.” With that, Mei set down six red cards, and her last six blue train cars on the route from New Orleans to Miami.

“Shi bal!” Hana crossed her arms and pouted, knowing that there was no way she could build her route now. “Fine, I guess you win your old lady game championship.”

Mei let out a boisterous laugh. “You’re right, it does feel better when you win!”

“Hmph.”

Hana continued to pout as Mei put away the pieces. Despite her outrage at the loss, she had to admit that while it was a lot different than Starcraft, she could still respect the strategy and ruthlessness involved it took to win a game.

“Good game, Hana?”

Hana turned around to see Mei smiling at her, hand outstretched. She wasn’t used to being on this side of the handshake. Sighing, Hana shook her hand. “GG.”

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

A smile crept across her lips in spite of herself. “I guess not.” Hana took a glance at her phone, shocked to see that it was already four in the morning. “So, hey, it’s getting kind of late.”

Mei yawned. “Is it? I hadn’t noticed,” she replied sleepily.

Hana smirked. “Liar.”

Another yawn. “I don’t know how you can handle being up so late.”

Hana shrugged. “Best time for raiding. Took some getting used to, though. My first guild kicked me for falling asleep in a 25-man.”

Mei giggled. “The World Champion got kicked out of a guild?”

Hana suddenly realized just how much she revealed to Mei, and narrowed her eyes. “You tell NO ONE.”

“Promise.”

“Good!”

For a few minutes, the two women just sat on the bed. Hana was fully aware that Mei probably wanted to get some sleep, and that she’d probably get a lecture from Angela if she didn’t, but at the same time she didn’t quite feel ready to leave. The MEKA corps were hyper-competitive, and while that suited Hana just fine, it was a nice change of pace to be hanging out with someone for something other than hooking up or sizing them up.

Mei being such a geek didn’t hurt things either. She also didn’t seem like she was in any rush to get Hana to leave.

After a few more minutes of quietly enjoying each other’s company, Hana noticed Mei’s eyes struggling to stay open. Reluctantly, she slid off of the bed. “Think we should try to sleep a little bit before morning?”

Mei just nodded, and took off her glasses.

Hana slipped under the covers and shut off the light, but not before catching a glimpse of Mei taking her hair down for the night. Somehow it looked just as pretty down as it did up.

Just before she could doze off, Mei’s voice caught her attention. “Hana?”

She rolled over to see Mei’s silhouette propped up on an elbow. “Yeah?”

“Tonight was a-“ a third yawn, “a lot of fun.”

This time, Hana couldn’t help but yawn herself. “It was. We’re so doing this again, all right?”

“It’d be great to chill again.” Maybe it was the exhaustion, or just how sincere Mei was, but the pun got a chuckle out of her, awful as it was.

“Definitely. Good night, Mei.”

“Good night, Hana.”


	2. Change of Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On a rare day off, Hana has plans for a day out with Mei, but Overwatch means being on call. Luckily for the two of them, they work quite well together.

“So thanks for watching my latest highlight video! You can click the description for my review of the new Dark Souls, and my next live combat stream will be two weeks from now on twitch.tv/dva! Remember to like, share, and subscribe, and tune in for all the latest in gaming and MEKA combat.” With that, she blew a kiss to the camera, and held up the V. “Love, D.Va! Annyeong!”

Clicking off the camera with her free hand, Hana ripped open a bag of Cheetos, grabbed a handful, and immediately set to work on adding the outro to the highlight package. It was nice to finally have a day off to work on her videos, especially considering since she had all of two since she was injured a month ago, but she also had plans later on and had to work fast if she was going to keep them.

After about an hour of video editing and answering fan mail, she hurriedly wiped her hands on her t-shirt and dug through her dresser. Normally she was pretty good at throwing together something that looked good, but it took her longer than usual today as she rejected several possibilities before deciding on a pink floral sundress.

Taking a quick look at the time, she saw it was already ten past noon, and realized she was already late. “Shi bal!” Rushing over to her mess of a vanity, Hana quickly applied her makeup, fixed her hair, slipped on the first pair of sandals she could find, and rushed out the door. The layout of Overwatch’s base of operations made about as much sense as the average adventure game, but having spent a few weeks there she had finally gotten the hang of it.

Turning the corner, she smacked right in to someone, falling flat on her back. She rubbed her shoulder as she sat up slowly, looking up to see Lena standing over her.

“Ow! Geeze, luv, where are you off to in such a ‘urry?”

“Hngh, sorry Lena. I’m kind of running late and didn’t see you.”

Lena gave Hana a quick look up and down, and smirked. “Running late, hm? Who’s the special someone?”

“N-not that kind of running late!”

Lena giggled. “Really, love? Seems you’re a bit dolled up for just Overwatch.”

“Nope! Do not want!” Hana grumbled as she got back up to her feet. “It is _so_ not that. Just shopping.”

Lena rolled her eyes, much to Hana’s annoyance. “Right then. By the way, your shoes don’t match.”

Hana looked down, and was struck by the realization that in her hurry, she had managed to put on one ballet flat and one sandal. “Shi bal! I can’t go out like this! Now I’m going to be even late-“

She was cut off by a grinning Lena grabbing her arm, and then a flash of blue light. Within a second, she was standing in front of her room, a bit nauseated, but no worse for wear. “W-woah! You’re like a human hearthstone!”

“Um, sure!” Lena chirped. “Now, get ready for your special someone, luv, and don’t say Tracer never ‘elped you!”

Hana opened her mouth to protest, but with a wink Lena was already gone. Grumbling, she hurried back into her room, changed into the right pair of shoes, and was back to running through the halls. It was only a few minutes for her to get to Mei’s room, but she was already at least fifteen minutes late. She knocked on the door. “Hey Mei, it’s Hana! Sorry I’m late! Ready for our shopping trip?”

“…It’s open.” A sleepy voice murmured from behind the door. Raising an eyebrow, Hana pushed the door open. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the bed, where there was just the tiniest hint of light reflecting off of a pair of glasses beneath a mess of blankets and pillows.

“Uh, Mei?”

“I’m really really sorry… I was up late researching some of my old sites, and I slept in. Sorry…”

“Sleep is for the weak! Here,” Hana reached into her pursetossed Mei an energy drink. “This always helps me stay awake.”

The hand reaching out from the pile of pillow and blankets caught it. “Mmmm… thanks.”

“You’re welcome!” Hana chirped. She scanned Mei’s room. She had only briefly been in there once before, when she and her snuck in to grab board games. In the light, though, she could see the messy workbench, piles of books about weather, mechanical engineering, and robot repair, paintings of odd-looking flowers, a poster of a guy in a bowtie captioned with “Science Rules!”, and a cage in the corner with-

Hana immediately clapped her hands to her mouth and gasped. “OMG! Is that a… BUNNY!!!” She let out a loud squeal and immediately ran over to the cage to look at the white rabbit. It was in the midst of munching from its food bowl as Hana knelt beside the cage, babbling in Korean. The bunny perked its ears up, somewhat perturbed by the ruckus, but as far as Hana was concerned, it was its own fault for having the audacity to be so adorable.

She opened the cage door, and immediately moved her fingers in to pet her cute new friend when she heard a sleepy voice from behind her. “Careful, Hana! He’s not friendly!”

By the time Mei had finished speaking, though, Hana was already scratching the bunny’s forehead. Almost immediately, the bunny lowered his head, grinding his teeth in contentment. Before long, the bunny was flopped down on his belly, letting Hana stroke from his nose, over his ears, and all the way down his back. Hana squealed. “Who’s the cutest, fluffiest bunny? It’s you! You’re the cutest, fluffiest bunny!”

For a few minutes, Hana continued to pet the bunny, occasionally speaking up to remind him that he was, in fact, a cute little bunny. “You never told me you had a bunny before, Mei!”

When there was no response she briefly turned her head to look at her. She was standing by the bed, hair a complete mess, blanket wrapped around her shoulders, dreamily staring off into Hana’s general direction. She glanced around to try to figure out what exactly she was looking at. “Uh, Mei?”

Mei blinked back to attention. “Hana! Sorry! I was… sorry! Um, I’ve had Blizzard here for just a few weeks. I went on a trip to one of my old outposts in Greenland and brought him back for study. I wanted to see how they were adapting to the change in temperature there It’s gotten a lot warmer since I was… gone, so there’s been some changes to their habitat and I wanted to make sure that there weren’t any concerns that may be affecting other members of the species. They’re really adaptable to their environment and everything, but when you’re looking at an average temperature increase of two degrees celsius, this can sometimes throw off their sense of what season it is and their breeding patterns and-”Mei stopped herself, and the faintest hint of a blush spread across her cheeks. “Sorry, I’m kind of rambling again. You probably don’t want to-“

Hana giggled. “Hello? We’re both nerds, this is just your nerd thing! Your science stuff is pretty cool.”

A big grin spread across Mei’s face. “W-wow, thanks, Hana! Normally only Winston’s really interested when I talk about this stuff…”

“You just make it sound really cool,” Hana smiled, and swore she saw the blush on Mei’s face deepen. “You should totally make a youtube show or something, where you can talk about the different places you’ve been, or animal facts. I could even give you a shoutout on my channel!”

“M-maybe,” Mei stammered. “I don’t think I’d be as good as you doing that, though.”

Hana tilted her head. “Why not?”

Mei shifted from side to side. “Well, you have your show and you’re always so confident, so funny, so pr- um, charismatic, I don’t know why someone would want to watch me.”

Hana stood up from the cage. “Seriously, Mei? Viewers would think you’re super smart _and_ super cute!”

It probably wasn’t physically possible for Mei to get any redder than she was right now. “Do you mean it?”

“Of course!” Hana gushed, smiling warmly. “The cute factor helps a lot with getting viewers too. They totally eat it up.”

“Yeah, I-I bet…”

Then came the sound of stomping feet. Hana turned to look back at the cage. “I think someone’s mad we stopped paying attention.”

“Don’t they only do that when they’re threatened?”

“They do, but they also do it when they’re mad,” Hana replied, kneeling back down to pay more attention to Blizzard. “How come you said he wasn’t friendly? He’s such a sweetie!”  
  
“I don’t know what it is!” Mei protested. “You seem to really know what he likes.”

“I had a bunny growing up. Well, two. My parents had to look after her when I got drafted, but she’s still mine. I figured wild bunnies probably like the same stuff, like forehead pets.”

“He always bites me when I try.” Mei grumbled.

“He just needs to get to know you more. Bunnies are weird like that. Here,” Hana shuffled to the side, leaving more of an opening to the cage. “Try to scratch his forehead. You can take over from me.”

Mei knelt down beside Hana, cautiously reaching her arm into the cage. As she moved to pet Blizzard, Hana felt Mei’s fingers brush against her own. She watched as Mei slowly began rubbing the bunny’s forehead, grinning as he lowered his head to the ground. “You’re doing it! GG, Blizzard!”

“I am!” Mei gushed, laughing as the bunny laid down and began to grind his teeth. Hana glanced over at Mei, feeling her eyes drift lower for the briefest of seconds as she watched her pet the bunny. After a little while, he shuffled out and went over to his food dish.

“He’ll let you pet him more after a while, once he associates you with good stuff. So, ready to get going?”

“Sure! I just need to get chan-“

The sound of Athena’s voice on the loudspeaker cut off Mei’s response. “Attention. All agents of Overwatch on site are to report to the briefing room immediately. I repeat, all agents of Overwatch on site are to report to the briefing room immediately.”

Hana immediately felt her heart sink. As much as she loved a good fight, she was really looking forward to the shopping trip.

She supposed that just meant she had to do a speed run.

\---

“Seatbelts, Hana,” said Mercy.

D.Va groaned. She was the most accomplished MEKA pilot in the world, and was now going to be spending the rest of her day off getting shot at by Talon mercs. She didn’t see why she had to be so cautious about the ride over there. Even if Mercy’s glare was decidedly unimpressed.

“Come on, Hana,” a gruff voice spoke up from the driver’s seat. “We just want to make sure you get there safe, all right? Buckle up.”

Catching the faintest hint of concern in Soldier 76’s brow, D.Va sighed and put her seatbelt on. “Happy?”

76 nodded. “Thanks.”

Winston cleared his throat. “All right, here’s the mission. Our target is a truck contains several weapons that Talon could make use of, so we need to secure the payload at all costs, and quickly, which is why I called you all in. 76, you’ll take point with me on securing the truck. Mercy will stay back and provide support. Tracer, you-“

“I’ll flush out the sniper!” She volunteered. “That Widowmaker’s a right pain in the arse.”

Winston nodded. “Fine, but be careful. Mei and D.Va, you’re in charge of keeping Talon off the truck once we have it. If things get overwhelming, my genetic modifications let me invoke my rage state.”

Hana raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“I give in to my baser instincts,” Winston explained. “It grants me improved abilities for a time.”

Hana quickly shot a glance at Mei. “So… do you get bigger?”

“Well, my muscle mass does temporarily increase, so yes, technically.”

“Do you get faster?” Hana asked, as Mei tried to stop herself from smiling.

“My increased muscle mass does allow for quicker movements, yes.”

“And stronger too?” By now Mei was trying and failing horribly to stop herself from giggling.

“Yes! Honestly, what is even the point of this-“

“So then,” Hana nodded at Mei, who took the cue to join in with her, “You’re the first member of the DK C-

“ _Stop._ ” Winston sighed as the two women burst out laughing. Tracer was sent into a fit of giggles herself, while Soldier 76 let a few chuckles escape, much to Winston’s irritation. “I can’t say I’m surprised at you, D.Va, but Mei? I’m very disappointed!”

“I’m sorry Winston!” Mei forced out between chuckles. “Hana taught me the song and told me that I had to join in with her.”

He rolled his eyes. “Well, of course, if D.Va asked you to do it, then I suppose you had no choice.”

D.Va regained her composure. “Glad you agree with me! Thanks, DK!”

Winston remained silent as he buried his face in his hands.

“If it makes you feel better,” Mercy started, “they rigged my medicine cabinet to play one of those infernal video game songs every time I open it.”

“Dr. Mario is a classic!” D.Va whined. “Besides,” she nudged her partner in crime for emphasis, “Mei did all the work on that one.”

Mei nudged back. “Yeah, but it was all your idea!”

 “Mein Gott, would the two of you stop already?” Mercy threw up her hands. “I suppose this is my own fault, though. This is what I get for treating the two of you at the same time.”

The two women exchanged a meaningful look at each other. Mei had quickly become D.Va’s closest friend in Overwatch, and technically, it had been all Mercy’s fault. D.Va had no clue whether they would have eventually become friends if they hadn’t both gotten shot and hadn’t both stayed in the same room in the infirmary, but she suddenly found herself very happy that this was the way things had turned out.

It also made the prospect of getting shot at again much less nerve wracking. Not that she was intimidated by a bunch of Talon scrubs and a couple of rejected Kingdom Hearts villains or anything.

Then came Soldier 76’s voice from the front again. “Approaching the target location.”

Winston nodded, and flipped the switch on his Tesla cannon, a low hum sounding as the weapon came to life. “Tracer, start looking for Widowmaker right away. Everyone else, provide cover fire while 76 and I secure the payload.”

“Don’t take any stupid chances, either,” 76 added. “That goes double for you, Hana. Please.”

D.Va opened her mouth to protest, but instead muttered a “fine” under her breath.

As the transport slowed, D.Va unbuckled her seatbelt and immediately made for the door.

\--

“Watch out, Mei!” D.Va slammed on her rocket thrusters when she noticed a merc sneaking up behind Mei, decelerating only after she had clotheslined him and sent him careening into a wall. She fired a couple of rounds into him for good measure.

“Thanks!” Mei replied, firing off icicles into the next oncoming wave. D.Va positioned herself behind Mei and held up a cannon on either side of her, helping her to thin out their numbers.

A while later, D.Va noticed that there was a significantly lesser amount of ice flying at Talon. “Ah! Sorry! My gun is malfunctioning,” Mei cried out, desperately trying to smack it in the hopes that it would somehow get the weapon working again.

“I’ve got this!” Before Mei could say anything, D.Va’s MEKA bunny hopped overhead. Once she landed, D.Va immediately activated the defence matrix, blocking all their shots before retaliating with a salvo of her own. “Is that all you’ve got? Get on my level, scrubs!” She made sure to throw a dramatic pose in between breaks of enemies for her streamers. D.Va knew that the fans always appreciated it when you put on a little bit of a show for them.

As she fired away, she noticed that the number of mercs attacking were getting lesser and lesser. The fighting had been going on for a while now, and they had to be running low on the trash mobs. The truck was as good as theirs.

Then, black smoke began to drift in front of Hana’s line of sight. She narrowed her eyes, and felt her chest begin to tense up with anger. The kind of anger she hadn’t felt since she lost her first Starcraft tournament. The kind she channeled when the enemy deserved nothing less than complete and utter ruthlessness. She still owed Reaper from the last time they had met, and she ready to pay him back. She focused on the smoke, fingers on the triggers for the very second he would materialize.

Once he became corporeal, though, D.Va didn’t even have the chance to get off a single shot. He growled as he began unloading his shotguns in all directions, faster than D.Va could react. She hammered on the button for the defence matrix, which helped for a time, but it only bought her so much time, and before she knew it her MEKA had sustained critical damage. Warning signs were flashing on her display as one of the shots narrowly missed her face. Growling in frustration, she ejected, leaving the machine to be blasted apart by Reaper’s onslaught. She used the momentum to roll beneath the hail of shots.

Then, she noticed Reaper turning his sights on Mei, who still hadn’t gotten her gun working. In the moment she pulled out her pistol, she managed to discover that it was, in fact, possible to hate Reaper more than she already did.

“Gesegki! Jugeullae?” The words came out practically as a snarl. Reaper turned back to face D.Va, only to get a full clip of her light gun right in his mask, pieces of it flying off. Staggering backwards, one hand desperately trying to cover his face, he dissipated into smoke as quickly as he arrived before D.Va could reload. It didn’t stop her from firing in anger at the black smoke, though.

When it was clear he was gone for good, she immediately turned around to check on Mei. To her relief, she didn’t seem to have any scratches on her, even the usual cuts and bruises from combat. She’d have to remember to thank Angela for that later. “You all right, Mei?”

“Y-yeah! That was a-Mei-zing, Hana!”

D.Va cringed, but still felt the faintest hint of a smile creeping across her face despite herself. “Is your gun working?”

“I think so. It needs more repairs when we get back to base, but I can hold out a bit longer.”

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of gunfire. It looked as though the Talon mercs were making one last push, and were charging down one of the alleyways. Even with her being as good as she was, D.Va knew that this many of them would be tough enough to face in her MEKA. Without it? Impossible.

 _Unless_ …

“Mei!” She grabbed her by the shoulders. “Can you send your little robot buddy to freeze these guys and put up a wall?”

Mei nodded. “I can, but I think that’ll just slow them down.”

D.Va took a quick look at her wrist console. “That’ll be enough time.”

With that, Mei headed towards the mass of troops, moving fairly gracefully to avoid their shots. As soon as she was in range, she sent Snowball out into the mass of them. The last thing D.Va was able to see of them was ice crystals beginning to form in the air before a large wall of ice popped up, blocking them in.

She took a look at her wrist console. 90%.

The battlefield had fallen silent. This really had to be their last push.

94%.

She noticed the ice wall beginning to sweat, beads of moisture dripping down the surface.

98%.

Mei was looking between Hana and the wall nervously.

100%. _Now._

“MEKA suit, activate!” Pressing down on her console, a new MEKA formed in front of her, D.Va immediately climbing inside. She hit the thrusters before her display was even giving her a visual, flying by instinct alone. By the time visuals had been fully restored, she was near the top of the ice wall, the thrusters just about spent.

_Just a bit further… come on…_

Finally, she was over top of the wall, looking down on the mercs. A few were beginning to thaw out, but the majority were frozen. She noticed her stream came back online, too.

She planted her MEKA firmly on the ice wall, and aimed her cannons. “Sorry for the drop there, twitch! Now, watch this massive pwnage!” With that, D.Va unloaded on the mercs below, tearing through the thawed ones and shattering the frozen ones into shards. For about fifteen seconds she didn’t relent, even as the ice wall cracked and her MEKA landed on the ground with a thud.

Fifteen seconds was all she needed. By the time she was done, the alleyway looked like the scene of a fatality that would make Sub-Zero proud. Grinning, she turned around to face Mei. “How was that?”

She was taken aback when an icicle flew right past her, only realizing what had happened when it buried itself in the chest of a survivor. “You missed one!”

D.Va blushed a bit in embarrassment. “Whatever. I can only be perfect most of the time.”

Mei giggled in response, before turning to look back at the truck, which had final arrived at the critical point. “Hana! We did it!”

“Woo! GG, Talon!” Hana gushed, climbing out of her MEKA, completely forgetting that she had forgotten to sign out of her stream. She immediately ran over to Mei and hugged her tightly. She really was as soft as she looked. “That was incredible! If it hadn’t been for you, I never could have fragged those noobs!”

“Me? You just saved my life from Reaper!” Mei blurted, still holding on to D.Va. “You looked so cool doing it, too!”

“Pfft. He’s a loser. Who knows how dangerous that one guy could have been?”

“I think he was just a regular solider.”

“Well, whatever! That was still so cool the way you just iced him like that,” D.Va enthused, forgetting about her wounded pride temporarily.

Mei looked at D.Va excitedly. “Did you just make an ice p-“

D.Va immediately felt her expression turn sour. “Nope! Nuh uh! /Ignore!”

The two giggled for a while, before finally seeming to realize just how long they had been hugging. Awkwardly, they broke apart. After a few silent moments, D.Va checked the time on her console. _9:10 PM… dammit! Mall’s definitely closed by now._

“So… I think we have to put off our shopping trip.”

Mei’s expression turned to one of disappointment. “Oh... that’s too bad. I was really looking forward to it.”

D.Va sighed. “Me too.”

Another awkward silence.

Then another idea popped into D.Va’s head. “So, we may not be able to do that, but do you want to come over to my room and hang out? Like a sleepover?”

Mei’s face perked up. “S-sure! I’d like that!”

D.Va grinned, and linked her arm with Mei’s. Things might not have gone as planned, but any as long as she was spending time with Mei, she was content. “Perfect.”


	3. Slip and Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Mei invites Hana on a trip to one of her field sites, she jumps at the chance to spend some quality time with her friend. Old habits die hard for Hana, though, as it turns out combat isn't the only place she makes dangerous decisions.

“You know, the whole thing with Toad is really messed up.”

Mei looked over at Hana from the screen briefly, then immediately went back to the screen when she heard the sound of Shyguy driving into a wall. “What do you mean?”

“Toad’s always been a character in Mario games, right? But he’s not just a character. There’s like, hundreds of them. They’re like a whole other culture, or their own species.”

“I’ll have to take your word for it.”

“But they all dress the same, and they’re all called by the exact same name!” Hana was getting more and more excited as she continued to talk. “Unless you’re one of the girls or an old explorer, that’s a whole race of people with no individuality.”

Mei tried her best to conceal her excitement with the latest item pickup. “Uh huh.”

“So, like, did they have names before? Is there some thriving Toad culture we don’t see off screen? Are they some sort of magical slave race that Princess Peach created? If that’s the case I should really be able to use magic to shoot the players behind me.”

Mei yawned. “Is that the point you were trying to make? That you should have even more abilities?”

“Well yeah! Peach is clearly the best character, so I want to make sure the game reflects th- JILAL!” Hana’s grip on the controller got uncomfortably tight as an explosion on screen engulfed Peach. “Freaking blue shells!”

Mei giggled. “I’ll make sure I avenge you.”

“Hmph. I know it was you.”

“R-really?”

Hana, lying sideways on the couch, tilted her head back briefly to look at Mei. “Of course! You think I don’t know how to check other player’s screens?”

“Oh... Sorry.”

“Don’t be!” Hana insisted. “You’re supposed to play to win! I might hate losing, but it’s even worse when people let me win.”

“Ok. That’s good to know then. Because…”

Hana narrowed her eyes. “Because what?”

“Because this!” Just as Peach was starting to get her momentum back, she was hit by a red shell, Shyguy speeding past her past the finish line.

“JILAL!” Hana threw her controller on the ground. Mei was practically falling off the couch from laughter.

“Play to win, huh?”

“S-shut up! Mario Kart’s a stupid game anyways. Too much casual-friendly random garbage,” Hana grumbled.

Mei just kept laughing. In some ways it was infuriating, but there was something oddly nice about it too. Mei never made any patronizing comments to Hana about calming down because it was just a game. She just rode her outbursts out. “You probably would have gotten second if you kept playing, you know.”

“First place loser? No thanks.”

Mei grinned, then yawned again. “I thought so.” The sound of the title screen played in the background. The two watched each other for a little while. This might not have been what they planned tonight, but it ended up being enjoyable none the less. “So, what did you want to do now?”

Hana mentally went over her game collection. A lot of the stuff she could actually play with Mei was pretty casual, but she could deal with that. Then again, Mei also seemed pretty tired, and she didn’t want to turn her off of all-night gaming and Doritos benders by pushing her too hard. She glanced down at her now bright pink toenails. “My nail polish is just about dry, so we can get to sleep if you want. You did a great job, by the way!”

She caught a glimpse of Mei briefly looking up and down her legs. “Oh! Y-you’re welcome,” she grinned nervously. “Sleep would be good. That way I can quit while I’m a winner.”

Hana rolled her eyes. “Don’t let it get to your head, or anything.”

“Did _you_ just tell me not to let winning get to my head?”

“Yeah!” Hana giggled “Shouldn’t I know best?”

Mei just chuckled in response, and slowly got up off the couch. “I can just sleep on the floor next to the bed, if you have an extra blanket.”

“I do, but we could always just sh-“

“T-the floor is f-fine!” Mei interrupted.

“Ooookay then.” Hana made her way over to her closet and dug around for a spare blanket. The whole thing was a bit odd considering Mei lived in the exact same base, but she was happy to be getting the real sleepover experience none the less. She hadn’t had one since she was 14.

She came back with a blanket, and snatched one of the pillows from her bed, handing it over to Mei before flopping down on the bed. Mei fluffed up her pillow before curling up under the blanket. “Thanks for having me over, Hana.”

“No problem! I think they got sick of us hogging the commons room TV, anyways. Frankly they’re _lucky_ they get to see me play anything.”

“Mmm.”

Hana pulled the covers over herself, and tried to close her eyes. The problem with not drinking anything that wasn’t caffeinated was that sleep never really came easy. There was also the fact that even if she knew Mei was sleepy, she was still up for talking and gaming.

A few minutes later, Hana would get her wish. “Hey, um, Hana? Are you still awake?”

Hana turned over and propped herself up with her elbow. “What’s up?”

“You know how I said I got Blizzard from Greenland, right?”

Hana’s eyes lit up at the mention of the bunny, and she immediately wished she was petting him again. “Yeah!”

“Well, I’ve been researching possible herbal aphrodisiacs which might encourage an increase in birthrates amongst the arctic hare population, and I managed to convince Winston to let me do some field work at my old site there in about a week. We’re all about helping, and if I have a breakthrough there, then this could be huge for all cold climate dwelling mammals who are affected by the increase in temperature.”

Hana smiled. “Saving the world, one bunny at a time?”

Mei laughed. “Yeah, kind of like that. I was so happy to hear we we’re opening up environmental operations again!”

“It’s important right? Like you always say, the planet’s worth fighting for.”

Hana was certain she caught a twinge of pride in Mei’s eye. “There’s a lot worth fighting for here.”

Hana reached down from the bed, and took Mei’s hand in her own. “Well, have fun when you go on your trip, okay? I’ll miss you!”

“O-oh! Well, i-it’s still a week a-away,” Mei stammered. “So I’ll s-still be here when, I mean...” she trailed off, then took a deep breath. “I wanted to ask if you wanted to come with me to Greenland?”

Hana blinked, then gave Mei’s hand a squeeze. Her palm was somewhat clammy, but Hana didn’t mind. “Yeah! Easiest decision ever!”

“Cool!” Mei blurted. “It’ll be really great having you there.”

“Yeah!” Hana had finally let go of Mei’s hand, and was sitting up on the bed, bouncing on the mattress. “Can you show me how to do experiments and stuff? Like freezing things or blowing things up?”

Mei smiled. “I don’t know that I’ll be blowing anything up, but I can tell you all about lab reports and proper procedures.”

Hana nodded enthusiastically. “So Greenland! Sounds like a nice place. Are we going to a nice hotel? I bet it’s all warm and sunny for the plants there, right?” Suddenly, Mei burst out into laughter. Hana immediately stopped bouncing and crossed her arms. “What’s so funny?”

“Hana, Greenland is up near the arctic circle!” Mei explained between chuckles. “It gets really cold. The station just has a couple of generators for electricity, not really enough to power anything but my equipment. The whole thing is heated by a fire.”

“S-seriously?!” No electricity? Freezing cold? She might as well become one of those weirdos who just had one console and a phone.

Mei’s laughter stopped abruptly. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. I know it’s probably not going to be what you’re used to. I just thought I’d ask.”

Not what she was used to was an understatement. Typically, even asking her something like that was enough to have her rolling her eyes and complaining. Still, the prospect of being able to get away with Mei was a tempting one. They could talk, she could teach her all kind of neat sciency things, and while they might not have electricity for games or anything like that, she still needed to beat Mei at one of her grandma games at least once.

There was also the fact that in addition to all of this, there was something about Mei that reminded her of her time in basic training. There was a girl there who-

Hana pushed the thought out of her head. Right now the important thing was fixing the disappointed expression that had fallen on Mei’s face. “I want to go.”

Mei looked up at Hana from the floor. “Do you mean it?”

“Yeah! I’m D.Va, after all. I can handle a little bit of cold. Plus I get to be spending… how long?”

Mei smiled. “Five days.”

“Five days with the second most awesome person in Overwatch ever!”

Mei raised an eyebrow. “Who’s the first?”

Hana threw up a V. “Me!”

Mei started laughing again. Hana felt a warm feeling growing in her chest at the sound. “I won’t argue with that.”

A happy silence fell over the room. Though it was still a week away, anticipation was already starting to build up for Hana. She’d have to get Mei to help her pack and shop for whatever she’d need for the trip. Maybe she’d have time to do a video asking her fans for board game suggestions, so that she could really impress Mei on the trip.

She flopped back down on the bed, her head buzzing with possibilities.

\--

Carrying stuff for three hours wasn’t so bad. Hana had dealt with far worse than that. Of course, she had been carrying things in temperatures meant for sane human beings. The hike to the research site was the kind of weather that made her cheeks ache, her nose all but useless for breathing, and her fingers and toes feel like they were a stiff breeze away from falling off. Hana could feel the cold in her bones. The MEKA would have made things so much easier, but apparently it wasn’t “cost effective” to authorize it for non-combat missions. Figured.

The only things pushing her forward were the fact that was looking forward to spending a bit of vacation time with the woman who had had quickly become her best friend, and the fact that she might as well have been frolicking through the frost like an elf from one of those stupid, boring, fantasy games. She forced herself to keep pace with Mei through the discomfort. It may not have been an official race, but if she managed to be the first to get her foot in the door of wherever they were going, she was absolutely going to declare one retroactively.

Mei took in a deep breath, somehow managing to twirl despite her heavy backpack and sacks full of equipment. “The air’s so fresh! Doesn’t the cool weather make you feel nice and rejuvenated, Hana?”

Hana didn’t respond, just gave Mei a glance like she had suggested Skyrim was better than Dark Souls.

Suddenly Mei stood up a little bit straighter. “Oh my, is that… Hana, look!”

Hana glanced over to where Mei was pointing, over a large span of snow, with the faintest hint of ice gleaming underneath. Through the thick layer of white powder, a flower was emerging.

“That’s a Greenlandian Bluebell! Usually they only bloom in summer, but it looks like this one’s adapted to grow in winter conditions! Even with the average temperature increase this shouldn’t be happening, so there must be some kind of mutation that’s giving it this kind of resistance.”

Hana tilted her head. “Really? Cool! Do you want me to get some for you so you can study it?”

She took a few steps forward when she felt Mei grabbing her arm. “No, Hana! That’s a frozen pond. We’ll have to do some checks to see if it can support our weight.”

“But I can be really quick and careful! I’ll have it-“

“Just wait until I have a chance to check, Hana, please?”

Hana sighed. Mei’s eyes looked so pleading and sincere that it was tough to refuse her. “Okay.”

Mei’s look of concern gave way to a smile. “Thanks, Hana.”

The two continued on to their destination, which was only about ten minutes away. When they finally arrived, they were at what looked to be a round, metal shack of some kind, just slightly larger than the size of one of their rooms at Overwatch’s base. The setting sun reflected beautifully off the metal panels. Dashing forward with the last of her energy, Hana opened up the door, and stepped in. “That’s right! D.Va plays to win!”

Mei just smiled warmly and carried her equipment in. Once the two of them were in, Hana took a look around. In the centre was a large fire pit, probably for cooking and heating, a stack of firewood, plain wooden table with a couple of plastic chairs, glints of metal peeking out from beneath the thick tarps that lined the walls, and a doorway to a closed off area that Hana desperately hoped was the bathroom.

“So… I guess this is home for the next five days?”

“Yeah!” Mei replied enthusiastically, grabbing logs from the stack to put in the fire pit. “Isn’t it such an ‘ice” place to chill out?” Hana made a sound like she had just been wounded, much to Mei’s amusement. “It’s so peaceful and quiet, and I promise that it gets warmer once the fire is going for a little while.”

Hana’s smile was somewhat forced. No matter how you looked at it, it was a tiny shack in the middle of nowhere and it was really _really_ cold. She had to look on the bright side, though. It was something new, she’d maybe get to learn a bit more about weather and climate and all that other stuff, and of course, her best friend was there.

Best friend. It sounded so nice in her head.

Before long, Mei had gotten the fire roaring to life. She clasped her hands together in excitement. After opening Blizzard’s cage to let him have free run of the shack, she sat down beside the fire, patting a spot beside her. “Come on, Hana! You look a bit cold.” She didn’t even have the desire to make it into a competition as she plopped down right beside Mei, still bundled in her heavy winter coat.

Mei was right. The fire really did warm things up after a while. It was only a few minutes before Mei had slipped out of her coat, sitting in front of a fire in just a scoop-neck tank top. It was simple, but Hana thought it looked really good on her. A few minutes later, Hana was shucking off her own coat.

“Thanks again for coming, Hana. I know this probably isn’t your first choice for a vacation.”

Hana smiled. “It’s cool.”

“I just really, really wanted you to have the chance to see what I do. Recording temperature and observing flora and fauna is kind of boring to a lot of people.” Mei turned and fixed her gaze on Hana. “It… it means a lot that you actually care to learn more about it.

“Well, you say it’s important, like primary objective important, and if someone as smart as you says that it must be true!” Hana grinned. Almost subconsciously, she leaned her head against Mei’s shoulder. There was something comforting about her presence that made Hana feel relaxed; she actually felt like she had some degree of chill. Besides, they were close enough that there was no big deal with a bit of casual contact.

“T-thanks!” Mei’s voice was a bit abrupt in her response, but it was kind of cute.

Hana sighed. “I get what it’s like when people don’t actually care what you do.”

“Y-yeah?”

“A lot of people think stuff like frame data, build orders, and counters are just boring nerd stuff, and that it’s all stupid and doesn’t matter. Even though that’s what made me such an awesome pilot.”

“That’s awful. I may not get all the stuff you talk about, but it matters to you, right? That has to count for something.”

“Exactly! Too many people don’t actually care about anything,” Hana continued, her gestures becoming more animated. “Maybe they’re just games, but I care about them! It’s not just games I care about, either, either. I care about getting to be better. I care about making my fans happy. I care about protecting my country.”

Hana felt the faintest trace of Mei’s fingertips on her arm. “The world needs more people who care, Hana.”

“Like you.”

Hana slumped further against Mei. She was really surprised at just how warm the fire had gotten. It was a comfortable warmth, though. Probably the most comfortable Hana had felt in years.

“Hey,” Mei spoke, voice as soft as falling snow. “I was thinking about gathering some stuff to make dinner.”

Hana perked up. “Can I come?”

Mei smiled. “It’s… it’s a surprise.”

For once, Hana didn’t protest. “Okay. How long will you be? I’m pretty hungry.”

“I shouldn’t be more than an hour,” Mei answered, getting up and slipping her coat on. “No eating doritos or anything while I’m gone though, okay?”

Hana wanted to whine, but figured that was the least she could do for the surprise. She nodded.

With that, Mei slipped out the door.

\--

About forty-five minutes had passed, and Hana was bored out of her mind.

There were two hundred and forty seven metal ridges in the ceiling. There were fifty bricks in the fire pit. It had been nearly fourteen hours without internet access or electronic use of any kind.

She got up and began to pace. She tried to think of something, anything, to occupy her mind.

Play with the bunny? Nope. He was hiding in the shadows, still not adjusted to the new location.

Start getting the equipment ready? Nope. Hana knew how to build a PC, but this was different and she didn’t want to mess up anything valuable of Mei’s.

Write “KEK” somewhere stealthily on the walls? Already done. Four times. The last time accompanied by a crude sketch of longcat.

Then the idea came to her. The flower, the Greenblue, or whatever Mei called it. She had been worried about the ice being too thin, but without all the equipment she was carrying, she’d definitely be light enough to make it across. Besides, she was so quick that she’d be there and back before the ice could even begin to crack!

She took a quick look at her jacket. It was tempting, considering how freaking cold it was, but it was just going to slow her down. Her jumpsuit provided some protection from the elements, and she wouldn’t be more than a few minutes. Then, she’d have a surprise for Mei!

Taking a deep breath, Hana dashed out the door. The wind had picked up from earlier, and without the jacket it felt like she was getting pricked by dozens of needles. Still, she forced herself back to the frozen lake. D.Va didn’t play to ragequit in the first two minutes.

After a run that felt twice as long as it actually was, Hana had made it to the edge of the lake. Now was the tricky part. If the ice was thin, she had to be quicker than the ice. Focusing her eyes on the flower, she began her dash, stepping as lightly as she could manage, practically gliding across the surface of the ice. Small crackling sounds came from the surface, but nothing major. She was still running on solid ground.

Before she knew it, she had reached the flower. Picking a blossom, Hana gave a brief cheer before stuffing it into one of the pouches on her suit, and turning back to run across the pond. The crackling sounds were getting louder, but it was fine. Hana was practically already at the halfway point. She was going to make it. She was going to make it. She was-

She felt her foot fall through the ice, and smacked into the surface, shattering the ice and plunging into the water beneath.

The cold wind had felt like needles, the ice water felt like… nothing. She expected it to hurt. She expected it to sting her face and body like nothing she had ever felt before, but nothing _._ Frantically trying to keep her head above water, she gasped for breath. As good as her physical training was, the coldness of the water was already starting to slow the movement of her limbs. It was starting to feel like she was swimming through month-old Mountain Dew.

She heard a familiar voice in the distance. “Hana?!”

“MEI!” She shrieked at the top of her lungs. “MEI, I’M AT THE POND!”

“HANA!” The voice had grown louder, tinged with panic. “HANA, I’M COMING!”

The water felt like it was thickening by the moment. Despite her best efforts, she was unable to keep her head above water. Gasping for one last breath, she felt herself go under. As precious seconds ticked away, the pain in her lungs was becoming unbearable. She could barely feel her limbs, and had no idea if her body was still struggling to stay alive. She couldn’t even feel it any more.

She couldn’t believe it; of all the possible game overs she could have gotten, it was going to be from an environmental hazard, all for the sake of a stupid flower.

Then, she saw a block of ice materialize above her, and a hand reach down into the water to grab on to her. She felt herself lifted out of the water, coughing and sputtering.

“Oh my god, Hana!” Mei cried, voice heavy with emotion. “You’re so cold… oh my god oh my god…” She heard the sound of a zipper, and then found herself pressed against Mei’s body. She felt so hot Hana was convinced her skin was going to start blistering from the contact. “Hana, I’ll get you back safe, I promise…”

“M-m-m-mei?”

“Save your energy, Hana.” Mei’s voice was shaky as she rubbed her arms against Hana, desperately trying to generate heat. After a few more minutes of being pressed against Mei, she found herself wrapped in her coat, and picked up.

On the way back to the shack, she saw the scattered remnants of various berries, fruits, and flowers.

\--

Hana sipped at the tea, teeth chattering. She still felt a chill, even underneath all the layers of blankets that Mei had covered her with. She finally understood how the people on the wrong side of Mei’s weaponry felt.

Meanwhile, Mei paced back and forth nervously, occasionally shooting an annoyed glance in Hana’s direction. She couldn’t figure out why. She got Mei the sample, and it’s not like she damaged any of her fancy science equipment getting her out of the lake.

So, she decided to lighten the mood. “The fire was a bit warm. I guess I just needed to cool off.”

Mei glared at her, cheeks practically glowing red. “Hana, h-how can you possibly be telling jokes at a time like this?”

Hana was taken aback. She had never seen Mei actually get mad at her before. “What’s the big deal?”

Mei looked at her as though she had grown a third eye. “Do you know how cold those lakes get under the ice?! They’re close to zero degree Celsius! You could get hypothermia from prolonged exposure to those conditions, and that could even lead to heart failure.”

“But it didn’t! D.Va 1, frozen pond, 0.”

“Ugh! This isn’t some contest!” By now Mei was growling in frustration. “Don’t you get it, Hana? You could have _died_. You take all of these stupid risks like that, and for what? The only thing you prove with that is that you don’t know how to make a mature decision.”

Hana fixed her glare on Mei, nostrils flaring. People liked to treat her like she was some dumb kid – she was used to that, but could always prove them wrong. She might have been the youngest member of Overwatch, but she was still a grown woman, and a damned accomplished one. She never needed to prove that to Mei. She never felt like she had to.

Until now, and that made her furious.

“So that’s it then, huh? It’s not Hana the world champion to you. It’s not Hana the world-renowned MEKA pilot. It’s not Hana the businesswoman who’s made D.Va into a household name. It’s not Hana who was just trying to help you. It’s Hana the stupid little kid, is it?”

“That’s _not_ what I’m saying, and you know it. It’s-“

“I know exactly what you’re saying! I thought maybe you saw me a different way, but I guess not!” By now Hana was raising her voice, hands balled tightly into fists. Her breath began to hitch, and she hated herself for it. She hated the kind of anger that made her lose control. All that was going to do was prove Mei right.

“I don’t see you that way, Hana!” Mei protested. “I know you’re not just some dumb kid. I wouldn’t… wouldn’t hang out with you if I thought like that.”

“Then why are you treating me like one?”

“I’m not!” Mei shot back. “You can just be so selfish sometimes! You keep putting yourself at risk and don’t care who around you might get hurt by that. _That’s_ immature.”

Hana grit her teeth. “Listen, everything I do, I do to _win_. Either you get it and you’re with me, or you don’t, and you need to get the hell out of my way. Not even you could figure out how to get that stupid plant, but I got it for you. If you don’t appreciate what I did to get it, or think that’s immature, then-”

“There’s more important things than the stupid plant, Hana! There’s more important things than winning!” By now Mei’s voice was beginning to crack. “Yes, I’m worried about my research, but I’m more worried about you!”

Hana glared at Mei. “Because I’m just a stupid kid. Right.”

“Stop saying that! I don’t just… just… forget it.” Mei’s posture slumped, and the look in her eyes was one of total defeat. “I can’t do this. Not with you. I’m going to try to get some sleep before tomorrow. You win.”

Hana didn’t think there’d ever be a day when hearing those words felt so awful. “Fine. Like I need more of a lecture from you, anyways.”

Mei didn’t even respond. She just unrolled her sleeping bag, keeping her face turned away from Hana.  She _hated_ this. Seeing Mei so upset left her with a rotten feeling in the pit of her stomach. She wanted to comfort her, hug her, do something to make her feel better. Pride and anger had also made their homes in Hana for the night, though. It didn’t matter how bad she felt for Mei or how good a friend she was. If she didn’t prove herself now and let her know that she wasn’t someone to look down on, that was as good as losing, and Hana never lost.

She stole one more glance at Mei as she slipped into her sleeping bag. Unlike Hana’s, the thing was massive, with lots of extra space. She tried to focus on how envious she was of it. It was a welcome distraction. At this point getting shot again seemed like it would be a welcome distraction. Keeping one of the heavier blankets wrapped around her, Hana turned off the lanterns and chose a spot close to the fire, unrolling her own sleeping bag. Even with the extra bulk, she managed to wriggle in. Maybe she’d actually try this whole going to bed early thing that people always kept talking to her about.

Then she heard the sniffles. That was a dagger to her heart.

With the weight of everything that had happened that day, from her plunge in the water to the fight with Mei, not even she was tough enough stop the flow of tears. She slipped further into the sleeping bag, hiding her face. You never let an opponent see that they got to you. You never showed them any hint of weakness.

 _But Mei should never have been an opponent_.


	4. Play To Win

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> D.Va isn't her usual self once her ego puts her friendship with Mei in jeopardy. Lena might just have the winning strategy for patching things up, though, and possibly even more.

Hana poked at her fries. At this point it probably would have been easier to just throw them out. They were cold now, and nothing went from delicious to disgusting as fast as left out McDonald’s fries. Still, 76 had picked them up for her in the hopes of cheering her up, and it felt like a total scrub move to throw them out.

She nibbled a bit on a chicken nugget. The two of them had decided to come home early from the trip, hardly said a word to each other on the way back, and even less the past week on base. They thankfully weren’t put on any operations together, but even without having to see her fighting didn’t come as easy to Hana as it usually did. She still had the scar on her back from when she got hit by shrapnel from her own self-destruct, and the hundreds of memes “fans” had made about it to prove it.

“’Ey there, luv! Mind if I ‘ave one of your nuggets?”

Hana took a brief look up at Lena. “Go ahead,” she droned.

Lena paused for a moment before taking one from the box. “That’s it, then? No trying to fight me off?”

“I’m not really hungry.”

The teasing expression on Lena’s face was quickly replaced with one of concern. “Something bugging you, luv?”

Hana fixed Lena with a cold expression. “It’s nothing.”

“Come on, you know you can tell me, right? Get kicked out of one of your tourneys? Boy trouble?”

Hana snorted. “No.”

Lena raised an eyebrow. “It got anything to do with your best mate moping around the place?”

A moment of hesitation, this time. “…No.”

That was all the confirmation Lena needed. “So what happened? You two went on a trip together, and now both of you are just bloody miserable.”

Hana moved to get up out of her seat. “It’s none of your business, now go.”

“Hana, wait.” Lena’s voice had gotten softer. “I’m really not just trying to take the piss, I actually want to help you. If you tell me to bugger off, that’ll be it, but you can talk to me if you need to.”

Hana sighed deeply. Lena could be annoying sometimes, but her heart was always in the right place. Maybe that was just what she needed. “What do you do when one of your friends sees you like you’re some kid? Like you don’t know any better.”

“Angie giving you an ‘ard time? I thought you were talking about Mei.”

“I am.”

“Wait, you think she sees you like a kid?”

“Well, yeah!” Hana blurted out. “I was trying to help her with her science stuff when we were on that trip and I got myself into some trouble with a frozen pond. I make it out okay thanks to her, but then she’s mad at me! Says I’m immature and selfish, like I’m just some idiot.”

“Hana? Just how bad was this trouble?”

Hana sighed. “Really bad. Don’t tell _anyone_.”

“Right then,” Lena nodded. “So she’s worried you bloody well could have gotten yourself killed, and you think it’s because she thinks you’re some brat.”

“I just said that!” Hana shot back, audibly losing patience.

A smirk broke out across Lena’s face. “Did Mei ever talk to you about her last fling, luv?”

“No…” Now that Lena mentioned it, it did seem a bit odd to not share anything about your love life with a close friend.

“Well then, ever notice anything different about how she looked at you?”

“W-why would I notice that?!” Was she implying…

“Did you ever think she got a bit flustered around you? Like if you touched or you said something nice?”

 _She was_. “She blushed kind of easily, but I thought m-maybe she just got nervous.”

By now the smirk on Lena’s face had grown into a Cheshire grin. “Well luv, I think you can put it together now. If she really saw you as a kid, you don’t see Angie or Jack itching to spend the night in your room, do you?”

“Are you saying she got mad because she…” Hana lowered her voice. “ _likes me?!_ ” The thought of it filled Hana’s head with more emotions than she could possibly hope to keep track of. Suddenly Mei’s lecturing felt _very_ different than it had before.

“Right-o! Congratulations, D.Va wins again!” Lena announced, much to Hana’s embarrassment. She probably looked about as pink as her MEKA right now.

“But how do you know she’s, um, well,”

“Lesbian?” Lena finished the sentence for her. “You learn to pick up on these things when you are too.”

Hana giggled nervously. “Okay, I guess I’m just oblivious.”

“Well, that’s a bloody understatement,” Lena teased. “But yeah, it didn’t hurt that she usually comes to me about all her girl trouble. I started to think something was going on when she mentioned wanting to impress her, how’d she put it? ‘Pretty, popular, super tough and cool’ crush.”

“S-she said that? About m-me?” Hana’s cheeks felt like they would catch fire at any moment. She knew the two of them had gotten close, but she didn’t think that Mei felt like _that_ about her. To her surprise, it didn’t bother her at all. If anything, she even felt a little bit happier.

“Well she didn’t give me a name, but she wasn’t exactly subtle about it, luv,” Lena giggled. “So then, where do you stand?”

Hana froze. When she opened up to Lena, she hadn’t been expecting to answer any questions about her orientation. “Well, when I was in basic training, there was the girl there who kind of, well,” she paused to collect her thoughts. “I thought maybe I had some feelings for her, but she was straight, and I mean, I guess I am too.”

With that, Lena burst into laughter. “You guess? Look, I’ll make it easy for you. Do you like lads?”

“Yes.”

“Do you like ladies?”

There was the sticking point. “Well, not like, often, or anything, but I did like that one girl. And Mei…” As Hana paused to think of Mei, her brain was immediately flooded with thoughts about how smart and passionate she was, how comforting her presence was, how adorable and soft she was, how pretty her hair was, how great she looked in a tank top that showed - _Okay, that’s enough._ “I like Mei, too. So… bisexual, I guess?”

“You can call it whatever makes you happiest, luv. Just don’t feel like you need to be something you’re not.”

It was liberating to have a word for it. For the longest time Hana had just thought that it was just a case of all girls having those feelings for other girls they admired. You just didn’t actually do anything about it because you were supposed to just like guys. It was kind of stupid, since girls liked other girls all the time, but Hana since Hana knew she liked guys for sure, she never considered the possibility that maybe she liked girls, too.

 _I like girls, too_. She tried it out a few times in her head. It felt good. Comfortable. Like sitting down to play a game of Starcraft.

She liked girls, too.

Hana took a deep breath, and got ready to say it out loud. “Okay, so I’m bi, then.” _Okay! Tutorial mission complete!_ _Now, hard mode._ “Things with Mei still aren’t good, though. If what you’re saying is true… I screwed up, bad. Really, _really_ bad.”

She felt her breath hitch on the last syllable. Fresh off the rush of realizing that she was into women, she ran face-first into the reality of having just about completely ruined things with a woman she was _really_ into.

“Wouldn’t be so sure of that, luv. Now, so far I just figured you need a little help coming around before I told you were acting a proper idiot.” She paused for a moment. “Hana, you’ve been acting a proper idiot.”

Hana crossed her arms indignantly. “Well, I know that now.”

“And since that’s out of the way, look, when you really bloody like someone, you’re willing to forgive a lot of things. You’re willing to hold out a lot of hope for them…” For a moment it seemed as though Lena might be drifting, but then she snapped back to attention. “Mei cares about you a lot. If you want to fix things, and maybe more,” Lena winked for emphasis, “it definitely isn’t too late.”

“So what do I say?” Hana admitted she felt a bit self-conscious stumbling around like a noob, but it wasn’t as though she had a ton of relationship experience to rely on.

“Well, you can’t expect me to just tell you everything!” Lena giggled again. “Besides, it’ll matter more when it actually comes from you.”

Hana nodded. “Thanks, Lena. For all the stuff.”

“Don’t mention it, luv! Cavalry’s always ‘ere when you need it!” Hana rolled her eyes as Lena made finger guns at her. “By the way, were you planning on finishing those nuggets?”

Hana slid them across the table. She had more important things to worry about right now. “All yours.”

Lena grinned, and popped one of the nuggets into her mouth. “Cheers, luv!”

In a blink, she was gone, leaving Hana to figure out what to do next.

\--

 _Knock knock_.

“Sorry! I’m a bit busy right now!” The voice was muffled from behind the door.

“It’s Hana.”

Dead silence.

“Mei? Can I co-“

She heard the clicking of the door. When it flew open, Mei was standing there. Suddenly, now that she had finally come to terms with her feelings, sadness and regret were accompanied by an Ultralisk-sized dose of anxiety. The sad look on Mei’s face didn’t make things easier. “Hi.”

“Hiya.”

More silence.

“76 brought me McDonald’s! Sorry I didn’t save you anything.” _Seriously, Hana? Are you AFK at the raid or something?_

“Oh… that’s okay. I’m not really hungry.”

The two women avoided eye contact with each other. Yet more silence.

Hana opened her mouth to speak, but Mei cut her off. “You can come in if you want! Sorry I didn’t invite you in sooner…”

Hana smiled slightly. “It’s ok.”

Stepping in to the room, she noticed that Mei had clearly been busy at her workbench. It was covered in even more equipment than normal. Then she noticed a blue flower suspended in a container of fluid. _She kept it_. “Were you able to find anything from that blue… thingy sample?”

“Oh! Well, it was kind of damaged from the ice water, but I’ve still been running some genetic analysis on it. It‘s a long process, and it’ll take at least a couple of weeks to get conclusive results, but I’m hoping I can isolate what gene helped it adapt to grow in the snow. It could mean… sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Hana smiled weakly. “I like your science stuff. Like I said, you should totally start a youtube show.”

Mei let out a short, nervous laugh. The silence was beginning to set in again.

“Mei, I’m… I’m…” It was a lot harder to say than she anticipated it being. She had convinced herself for so long that apologizing was as good as losing, and even knowing what was at stake, her pride had its claws sunk deep into her. So much so that tearing away was almost physically painful. “I’m sorry. I got so mad because I thought you were treating me like a kid, and I always liked how you didn’t do that. I was wrong.”

Something in Mei’s eyes softened. It made her look even prettier. “How could you possibly think I saw you like that?”

 “Sometimes people don’t take me seriously. So I start thinking that no one does and, then I get mad at them. That’s why I acted like such a scrub.” Hana laughed in spite of herself.

“You can’t just assume that about other people, though,” Mei crossed her arms. “I never treated you like that. I worry about you, but that’s because you’re… you’re my friend.”

Hana smiled sadly, torn between relief at hearing those words, and disappointment that there wasn’t the something more Lena mentioned. “I know. I should have known then too. I,” she hesitated for a moment, “I don’t blame you if you don’t want to be friends anymore.”

“No!” Mei exclaimed. “That’s not what I want at all! It just… the things you were saying hurt, because I don’t think of you like that.”

Hana winced. Partially from hearing how she hurt Mei, and partially from hearing the word “friend” again. _Is Lena just trolling me?_ “I’m sorry, Mei. I’ll remember now that you think of me as a friend.”

For a brief moment, Hana saw something flash in Mei’s eyes, but couldn’t quite put her finger on it. “I’m glad then.”

Hana smiled awkwardly, and another silence fell over the room.

“All right!” Hana replied with forced cheerfulness, heading for the door. “Later, Mei.”

Mei gave her a surprised look. “Oh… you’re going so soon? I’m sorry, did I do-“

“No no no! I just, well… I have to edit a video. Yeah.”

Mei nodded, a sad expression on her face. “Okay then.”

“I’ll talk to you really soon, okay? I promise!”

“Okay. Bye, Hana.”

“See ya.”

Hana shut the door behind her.

\--

Hana was flopped down in her bed, only sort of paying attention to the Street Fighter match she was in. She was already up one round, anyways.

When she started the day out, nothing would have made her happier than to hear Mei describe her as a friend again. But now? It felt like more of a consolation prize. She couldn’t help but think back to that girl she knew in basic. She couldn’t even remember her name. She just knew that when they ran exercises together, there was something in her movement that completely captivated her.

And when she smiled… Hana still remembered how she almost fell off of the climbing wall when she smiled at her. It really shouldn’t have taken Lena pointing it out to her to figure it out, frankly.

With her though, she at least had the excuse of not knowing she was bisexual, and not knowing if her secret admiree had any feelings for girls. With Mei? Lena had told her she had feelings for her, and Hana knew she liked Mei, so what excuse did she have? It wasn’t like Lena to lie, even if Mei said the word “friends” an awful lot, and it wasn’t like Hana to back off. It was just yet another reason to be frustrated with herself.

Her game was interrupted by a knock at the door. “Hana? It’s Mei?”

Hana practically leapt from her bed, shutting off her Xbox in the middle of the game, and dashed to open up the door. “Hiya Mei! Do you need something?”

Mei’s cheeks were flushed. “H-hana, there was something I didn’t tell you b-before you left.”

Suddenly she got the same feeling in her stomach as the day she won her first world championship. “Y-yeah?”

“I told you I thought you as a friend, right?” Mei moved closer, not once taking her gaze off of Hana. Hana’s mouth started to feel extremely dry. “I… I wasn’t honest about that. Do you really want to know how I think of you?”

“Mei, I already kn-“ She was cut off by Mei’s hands grabbing her firmly by either side of her waist, and the press of Mei’s inviting, tender lips against her own. For a moment Hana totally froze, her brain turned to mush by the realizations that yes, this was happening and yes, Mei knew exactly what she was doing. The way Mei’s lips moved against her own was unlike any of the clumsy, desperate, tongue-heavy experiences she had before.

Then, she decided she wasn’t going to be made to look like some filthy casual.

Awkwardly at first, Hana began to move her lips back, trying to find the right rhythm to match Mei. Then, whether as a distraction or because she finally realized that she could, she slid a hand up the outside of Mei’s wonderfully full thighs, finally resting on her thick backside. She must have done something right as she felt Mei yank her closer, humming against her lips. Hana felt herself being slowly backed towards the bed, and let Mei slowly easer her down onto it.

As Hana felt her lungs begin to burn, she was left with no choice but to break from the kiss, panting heavily. For a moment the two just looked at each other, until Hana broke the silence. “I was going to say I already knew. Lena told me.”

Suddenly she felt Mei tense up. “She t-told you?!”

“Yeah. I think it worked out okay, though,” Hana giggled.

Mei just nodded, her face flushed to the point where it was practically glowing. Hana snuggled closer, resting nose to nose with Mei. Everything about her was so warm and soft and perfect that someone could have told her she was forfeiting all her titles and she wouldn’t care. When she felt Mei drape an arm over her, Hana threw her arms around her waist and squeezed firmly, delighting in the gentle give of her flesh. Mei had the most adorably plump tummy ever, and there was no way Hana wasn’t going to enjoy it was much as she could. If it didn’t mean taking her eyes off Mei’s face, she’d be covering it with kisses. Maybe drifting a touch higher.

“It doesn’t have to be a contest, you know,” Mei started, a bit short of breath.

Hana grinned. “You’re just saying that because I’m winning.” The last syllable had barely left her mouth when she pressed herself even closer against Mei, kissing her again. Then again. Then again, this time drawing it out and enjoying the sensation of Mei’s lips moving against her own. It didn’t take long for them to match the other’s rhythm, as though they had been doing it for months. As her tongue greedily slipped between Mei’s lips, she regretted taking so long to realize just what was between the two of them.

She let out a brief whine of protest when Mei finally broke away, but stopped when she noticed Mei’s eyes fixed on her. Those rich, dark brown pools stared at her with such adoration, such affection, such joy that all she could do was giggle and try to ignore the warmth rising in her face. Hana felt a hand against her cheek and leaned in to the touch, turning to kiss the palm of Mei’s hand before letting it cradle her.

“You’re… you’re really beautiful,” Mei whispered.

Hana sighed happily, convinced she had died and was just having the most wonderful wait to respawn imaginable. “So are you.”

“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. Ever since we were both in the infirmary together. Then in Greenland, before everything happened, when we were sitting at the fire together… I really wanted to kiss you.”

Hana giggled, and softly nuzzled noses with Mei. “You should have just done it. That was a total noob move.”

Just then, a thought entered Hana’s head. When she was in training, it was common to get together for a night or so. When everyone there was so competitive, though, it was very rare things went any further. Overwatch might have been full of care bears, but she couldn’t shake the possibility from her mind.

It was clear that she was thinking about it longer than she realized when she noticed how Mei’s expression had turned to concern from bliss. She had to say something. “Mei,” she began, her voice stripped of its usual swagger, “Is this… for real? Are we just blowing off steam between missions, or do you actually like m-“

Hana was cut off by Mei cupping her face in her hands, and pulling her in for a kiss. The kiss was slow, but the tenderness was enough for Hana’s chest to feel like it was going to burst at any moment. When Mei started running her fingers through her hair, Hana was rendered completely helpless, melting into Mei’s arms. The feeling of warmth in her cheeks, in her chest, in her core just continued to burn hotter and hotter. The drunken haze of new love muddled her thoughts, but even then it was clear to her that yes, this was real.  

Hana was panting when Mei finally pulled away. She hadn’t ever been kissed like that before. There was so much… passion behind it. She realized it only made sense for Mei to kiss like that. And then that it only made sense that it was just so perfect for her.

There was just one bit of unfinished business. “I’m really sorry, you know. I should have just listened to you.”

Mei planted a soft kiss on Hana’s forehead. “I didn’t want to hurt you, Hana. I just wanted you to realize how much I cared, and how much it would hurt if anything happened to you. I know you’re good, and I know you like taking chances, but it has to be for the stuff that really matters, okay?”

Hana nodded slowly. When you were playing with permadeath, you never wanted to lose the people who were most valuable to you.

And when there were people who were valuable to you? That gave you a reason to stick around yourself.

“I promise, Mei. I’ll only do the risky stuff when it’s for something big. Or if it’ll make a really _cool_ video.” She made sure to put extra emphasis on the last part.

Mei giggled, and pulled Hana’s head into the crook of her neck. “Deal.”

\--

Hana was the first one up. She usually was. Sleep was one of those things that just got in the way, and as long as caffeine existed, she didn’t see the point in getting any beyond what was strictly necessary to survive.

The feeling of waking up next to Mei did make sleeping in awfully tempting, though.

She dumped a fourth packet of sugar into the tea. Tea was healthy, so it shouldn’t matter if she just added the same amount of sugar as her usual energy drink, right?

Between the tea and the sweater of Mei’s she “borrowed”, she was cozy and warm as she checked her inbox. The breakdown was the same as always: about 55% along the lines of “omg slayyy gurl”, 20% compliments on her last stream, 15% messages from her sponsors and her superiors talking about how great the last mission went, 5% awkward marriage proposals, 3% creepers, and 2% death threats and hate mail. She was relieved to have only about 200 messages though. That made reading, responding, and having her people look up the home addresses of the threateners fairly easy.

“…Is that my sweater?”

“Yup!” Hana chirped.

“It doesn’t even fit you,” Mei mumbled as she slowly got up out of bed.

“Sure it does!” Hana threw out her arms. There was enough space in there for a whole other Hana. “Besides, I look super adorable in it.”

Mei bent down to give Hana a kiss. “I wasn’t complaining, sweetheart.”

Hana giggled, draping her arms around Mei’s neck. “Good!” She considered telling Mei her face was still covered in pink lipstick marks from last night, but decided to take a little bit longer to bask in the gloriousness of her handiwork. “Sleep okay?”

Mei gave her another soft peck on the lips. “I did. Did you?”

“Yeah, right. The experience bonus isn’t worth the time you spend not doing stuff,” Hana smirked. “The cuddling was nice, though.”

“Really nice.”

Hana’s thoughts turned towards what happened now. If they were a thing, would they let the rest of the team know? Was that going to affect what kind of missions they were going to get sent on together? Were there any procedures for fraternization that went beyond the one night? She figured they might as well let everyone know and figure it out from there. If she didn’t, Lena certainly would.

Of course, Overwatch weren’t the only people she wanted to let know.

Breaking away from Mei’s hold, Hana turned her attention back to the laptop and called up twitch, logging in to her account.

“I think I’m going to make breakfast. Do you want anything?” Mei asked.

“Lots of things! But we’ve got one important thing to do first. Stay here.”

Mei raised an eyebrow. “Hana, what are you doing?”

“I have to make a big announcement on my channel.”

“…why do I have to stay here for that?”

“You’ll see! We’re going live in just a few seconds?”

“L-live? Hana, what are you-“

Hana put on her biggest smile, and held up the V for the camera. “Hi twitch! It’s D.Va. I want to say thank you to all the fans who sent me their well-wishes after the last stream. I was playing like a total noob, but it’s still appreciated. For those of you who wanted to know, my back is feeling just fine. Shout out to Mercy!”

She took a quick glance down at the viewer count. Even without an announcement, she was still drawing plenty of an audience. _Perfect_. “So, I’m not in my MEKA right now, and I don’t have any game streaming, because right now I want to give you guys a bit of a personal update. Last night, I sat down to talk with a really good friend of mine, and we kind of decided we wanted to be more than friends, and I am SO happy! She’s like this really awesome scientist, and she is seriously the smartest, cutest, sweetest person ever. So, I want to introduce you guys to my bae, Mei!”

With a tug on her arm, Hana yanked a beet-red Mei beside her in front of the webcam.

“Um… Hi… I’m Mei…”

Giving her a squeeze, Hana planted a big kiss on her cheek with an exaggerated “mwah” for emphasis. “She’s a bit shy, but trust me guys, she’s amazing and I am so, so, so happy right now! You might see Mei on my streams in the future, because she also knows how to kick ass. Speaking of, don’t forget to tune in three days from now, where I’ll be streaming the Overwatch Smash Brothers Invitational all night. No items, final destination, because seriously, come on, I have standards. So yeah, short update today! Say bye, Mei!”

“B-bye…”

“And I’ll see you all on the next stream!” Hana chirped, blowing a kiss at the camera. “Love, D.Va! Annyeong!” Clicking to end the stream, Hana turned to look up at Mei. Even blushing and stammering, she was everything D.Va wanted.

And D.Va always got what she wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who read, commented, and left kudos! :) This was my first time writing something for Overwatch, and I really wanted to show this pairing some love. This certainly won't be the last thing I write for them! I also take prompts and requests at aspartameaddict.tumblr.com if you want some of your own Meiva-related stuff!


End file.
